What goes into a good story?

Gold Member

I'm considering getting back into writing porn (or erotica, if you're highfalutin'). I have written some stuff in the past, and read a lot more (obviously)... and some stories are better than others, of course.

Leaving aside genre and subject matter, what are the keys to a good story, for you? Mine are:

- consistent use of tenses and decent grammar/spelling. I've read good stories in the 3rd person and in the 1st person... but don't skip back and forth.
- believeable. For example, stories where the characters have 11" penises aren't believable.
- credible perspective. I find it hard to write for female protagonists, although some people do that 'voice' pretty well. If you are going to write from the perspective of someone vastly different from who you are... you had better do it well.
- credible dialogue. Another thing I sometimes struggle with. Good dialogue really livens up a story, but bad dialogue is stilted. Sometimes it's easier just to stick in occasional phrases or exchanges, for flavour.
- a backstory. It's all well and good to have an exciting premise and some hot scenes, but give a little depth to your characters, please.
- suspense/tension. Hard to do well, but a slow buildup of anticipation can make a story more exciting. Probably the same principle as is behind 'edging'.

I'm not too keen on unnecessary sentimentalism, particularly when only used as a transition in the story. Witty dialogue is key, sexy is nice, but part of the fun is a glimpse of the characters through how they interact and I prefer when there's a spark to it. Also, I can't stand when the narration is all the guy's or a too long description of his penis.

Believable kind of goes without saying, but a topic that falls within the realm of fantasy is hotter to me than the "so I'm at a bar/grocery store/beach. Just to get an understand of my taste and what "works" for me, I loved this post in Fictitious Stories: http://www.lpsg.org/86229-sues-introduction.html

Gold Member

I hate it when they dive into the sex within the first or second paragraph. There is no anticipation or setting of the scene to make us beg for the sex parts. The real sex should occur in the last third of the story.

I like a good description of the people having sex, not only physically but life experience wise, past history.

Gold Member

I hate it when they dive into the sex within the first or second paragraph. There is no anticipation or setting of the scene to make us beg for the sex parts. The real sex should occur in the last third of the story.

I like a good description of the people having sex, not only physically but life experience wise, past history.

Gold Member

The best erotic books I've found are sold by Ellora's Cave and Loose ID. I'm all about the fantasy. The weirder, the wilder, the better it is.

I read some really freaky stuff when it comes to erotic literature, but I love the character development. I need that part, the sex is just the icing on top. If I wanted to read plan porn I would spend more time browsing xnxx.com and literotica.com I only read from those places when I'm goal oriented.

The main grammar issue I have is quotations around what someone is saying. I need that. I hate mucking through a book that someone cannot even be bothered to edit in the least. Typos and commas out of place don't bother me unless it's extremely noticable.

Something unexpected but not cliche. Maybe some built in cliches with a curve ball. And maybe a story that isn't centered around sex. Ah what am i talking about, the only books i've read were noir and those are nothing but cliches lol.

Grammar and spelling must be close to perfect, otherwise I spend more time mentally correcting it than I do reading.

Dialogue is a must. Words are what get me excited in sex and the same thing goes for stories.

A solid background story is good, but I'm only going to read it the first time. On re-reads I will skip straight to the fucking, so there needs to be a whole lot of fucking. I would say no more than a page or two of background (if the whole story is 10-20 pages overall). Definitely not into slow build ups.

I hate it when authors spend too much time describing what the characters look like and how they ended up together. Unless it's crucial to understanding the story, please hurry up and get straight to the fucking.

Gold Member

Send it to me at work and I'll polish it up wonderfully! :tongue: But in general, the more sensory detail you include, the better. And there must be a worthy frame of story to enfold the hotness and keep the reader interested in your characters.

VerifiedGold Member

You've already received some good feedback here. I would add that conflict is almost always at the center of good fiction writing no matter what the genre. There's a reason vengeance, good vs evil, the disadvantaged overcoming adversity, even man vs himself are timeless themes woven into countless stories re-told in many ways. Those themes work! Think of any great novel, short story, movie etc and there are really only a handful of themes they follow and they are all based on some type of conflict.